Sheffield University Equestrian Club

On Sunday the 11th Feb, 5 team members (myself, Iain, Steph, Ellie and Aimee) travelled down to Grendon again for jumping training with Victoria Thirlby. Everyone was feeling a little bit worse for wear from the night before (ROAR- if you weren’t with us, WHY NOT?!), so the car journey was a little quieter than usual! But as soon as we arrived, we all perked up, to build a course of BUCS standard in the lovely indoor school.

Once the course was built, we tacked up our horses Cookie, Ollie, Rabbit, Rupert and Pinky, and we were ready to go! We decided to allow ourselves 7 minutes warm up on our first horses, and 4 jumps, before riding our course, as that is all you get in the BUCS leagues. We rode the course with VJ watching, and then received some useful feedback and coaching before riding the course straight away again to see the immediate difference. Once we had ridden it round the second time with coaching, we jumping onto another horse, which was very different to our first, and repeated the whole process, incorporating what we took from the last round, but also encountering new problems with our new mounts. Again, we got some useful feedback from the first round, which was then improved on by our final round.

After the horses were put away to bed, we returned to the arena, where we received a debrief, and analysis of the course. A course walk after riding can prove very useful to compare our initial thoughts from walking it before riding with our thoughts after riding it.

It was really useful, and there were some common problems which became apparent. Many of the horses struggled with the 3 strided related, putting 4 in, however, despite me even falling off in the process, we all managed to get 3 strides in eventually! VJ showed us how important the entry into a related distance is, and showed us how much variation in distance there can be in take-off and landing of a fence depending on the type of canter. It was really interesting to see how our perception of a distance can be very different to what actually occurs. And it’s fair to say our inaccurate perceptions can often sabotage our round! This was nicely demonstrated when VJ asked us how many strides we thought there were on a curve from one jump to the next. We all agreed on the region of 5-6 strides, as it rode incredibly quick, but as VJ strided it out, we were gobsmacked to find there were in fact 9 strides in that distance! We had all been panic riding, and rushing to the fence, which made it feel a lot faster than it actually was. This was a really useful lesson, and should definitely make a difference to all our riding. A big thank you to Victoria at Grendon Equestrian Centre for her time and expertise, and her lovely horses, and to the liveries who also let us ride their horses.

On Sunday 29th January, 6 of our team members: myself, Iain, Steph, Sam, Ellie and Aimee travelled down to Warwickshire to have a dressage training clinic with BHSI trainer Victoria Thirlby at Grendon Equestrian Centre.
In the morning, we had an hour flat lesson on some of VJs lovely horses. We practiced parts of the test which were a bit tricky, and the importance of accurate transitions was highlighted, particularly the walk transition. Who’d have thought just walking would cause so much grief! After the lesson, we rode through the test as we would in a competition on the horses we had in the lesson, with VJ judging us. The tests were videoed, and VJs comments were on it so we could play them back and analyse our riding.

We then all swapped horses, to get a feel of another horse, and rode it for just 7 minutes to practice our warm up at competitions. We each got on a completely different horse to the one we had just ridden, to see how well we could adjust. Poor Aimee had a very tricky ride on a lively Justin, so a well deserved ride on lovely Ollie after was a nice treat! While Steph went from gentle baby Rabbit, who had a very soft mouth to Pinky, a huge grey gelding, who required a little more work! As riders, we need to be able to adjust our riding to suit the horse, and with only 7 minutes to get to know the horse before competing it, it’s important that we do this as quickly as possible. Steph did well to go from riding very gently, to being much more persuasive with her hands, and got a good tune out of Pinky.

After everyone had ridden the test and the second horse, it was off to the pub for a lovely roast lunch where we watched back our videos, turning the pub into our own private screening room! We got to watch our tests, and listen to the feedback, which is so beneficial in competitive riding. Once we had eaten and received some really helpful feedback, it was back to the yard, with some very full bellies! –Thank God it was only dressage and not jumping, as I don’t think we’d have survived!

When we arrived back, we tacked up our horses again, and got on the same one which we did our test on. We had 10 minutes to warm them up, before riding the test again taking on board everything we had learnt from the videos. Instead of judging, VJ coached us round the test, making us think about the psychology side of competitive sport, and taught us the importance of positive thinking and rehearsal. Everyone showed massive improvement in their tests, with the biggest improvement going to Aimee Desert. As one of our reserves, she hadn’t been to many training sessions, and did an excellent job! The second test she rode, which was sadly not videoed was really impressive.

The clinic proved very useful when Aimee ended up having to fill in for our A team the following Wednesday, and the B team riders who attended managed to scoop 2nd and 3rd individual places! So well done to everyone who attended, there was some excellent riding!

To watch the videos of the tests and other videos of the team go to our youtube account: http://www.youtube.com/user/SheffieldEquestrian

On one chilly November morning, 16 competitive riders ditched lectures and rolled out of bed to take part in the Equestrian Club Friendly Competition.

We arrived at Parklands and quickly sorted ourselves into teams. The teams were made up of three club members and one team rider, whose job it was to mentor and give a bit of moral support! Four teams were competing in total, one of which was made up of students from Hallam.

Four horses were used for dressage and a different four were used for the show jumping. Horses were drawn out of a hat so that there was one member of each team riding each horse, meaning that riders could see their horse being ridden by the others. Somehow, some very clever members of the committee managed to tackle the logistical nightmare of sorting everyone out with their horses, so everyone was in the arena at the right time on the right horse!

Before we tackled the BUCS dressage test, nerves were settled by watching team riders demonstrate each of the horses in the arena. One by one, we jumped aboard our horses for a quick warm up before going into the main arena to do our dressage tests. Everyone did really well at remembering the routine and it was really nice to hear all the supportive and positive comments from the other riders.

After a quick lunch, provided by the club, the show jumping horses were demonstrated by the team riders. Almost everyone felt more confident after seeing their horses being ridden, apart from the people riding Rooney who became a little apprehensive after witnessing him bucking around the arena in canter! Everyone had chance to go over a few practice jumps on their horse before being ushered into the main arena, where the jumps could be adjusted to heights that we were comfortable with. I’m pleased to say that everyone managed to stay on board,
even the people on Rooney!

It was a tough job, totting up all the scores from the dressage and show jumping, but the committee members worked their magic once again and everyone was presented with their score sheets and feedback and the rosettes were handed out. Rosettes were given for team rankings and also individual scores down to 8th place so everyone went away with something.

All in all, the whole event was fantastic. All the riders looked the part in their shirts and jackets and we all felt like it was such a worth while way to spend the day. The team and committee members worked so hard to make the day a success, and they definitely pulled it off!

If anyone is considering trying out for the team, it’s such a valuable experience to compete in the friendly competitions as they give you an insight in to how competitions are run and it’s a great chance to talk to and ride with current team members.

Hannah Hornby.

Individual results:

1st Sam Kennett

2nd Rachael Roberts

3rd Ellie Watts

4th Rebecca Mottershaw

Team members Sam Kennett, Steph Coathup, Ellie Watts, Francesca Atkinson and myself went to Grendon Equestrian Centre, in Atherstone to have a one-off lesson with Team GB eventer Jeanette Brakewell.

We all had some lovely horses. Francesca had a very well behaved, if not a little lazy coloured called Rupert, Sam was on the fantastic
chestnut ‘Fortune Cookie’, who Jeanette also rode in her demonstration, Ellie rode Justin, a very flashy 14hh pony, and I had Henry, a lovely, but slightly complicated horse. Hats off to Steph though, who rode a very ‘lively’ typical chestnut mare, Channel. Steph rode calmly and consistently, and quickly established a good rapport with the mare, which Jeanette was very impressed with.

Once warmed up on the flat, we rode a simple jumping exercise on a figure of eight. It identified the importance of accuracy before, and particularly after your fences, and regaining balance without losing impulsion on turns.  It demonstrated how a simple exercise can be used for all stages of riding ability, and highlighted any bad habits that had developed.

After our ride, and a good pub lunch !, we returned for the demonstration with Over To You, the most medalled horse in eventing history! We were exceptionally lucky to see the retired 23 year old horse being ridden as he (deservedly) rarely leaves his cushy life at home. He was looking absolutely stunning though, and was very excited to be there! You wouldn’t have guessed he’d been a day out of training! He had a play around on the flat, showing off his impressive flying changes, before Jeanette thought it was time for some proper fun! He jumped so gracefully and effortlessly, we couldn’t believe how light he landed on his feet! Jeanette also did a quick demo on Cookie, Sam’s ride, to show how she would warm up and get to know a new horse. This was very useful for us, doing BUCS riding, where we have to get on and compete strange horses, with only 5 minutes of getting to know them! She gave some good tips about how to get the most from the horse keeping it relaxed and supple.

A big thank you goes to Grendon Equestrian Centre and their liveries for the use of some fantastic horses, and the lovely indoor arena.
Hopefully this is a big step in the right direction for the start of our competition season.

PS. Good luck to the B team! Their first competition of the year is on Wednesday 16^th at Bishop Burton. If they ride as well as they did on Sunday, the other teams better be prepared!

A big well done to all that came to team trials this year!
It gets more and more popular each year, making it really hard to get through everybody, and then choose the final riders!

The standard was very high, with a lot of promising contenders for next year! So if you didn’t make it this year, don’t be disheartened. Be sure to keep up lessons, come to the friendlies, and come to trials next year ready to impress!

The final team members representing the university this year
are:

Emma Bavin, (Captaining A team)

Nadine Keefe,

Sam Kennet,

Heather Woodhead

Iain Mackenzie (Captaining B team)

Stephanie Coathup,

Ellie Watts,

Francesca Atkinson,

And our reserves are Aimee Desert and Rosie Snowden.

CONGRATUATIONS!

The first competition is the B team, on the 16^th November at Bishop Burton, good luck to all the team!

Keep an eye on this page to see how the team do, with plenty of photos and videos to follow.

Lots of horsey love, Emma x